


Kings in Disguise

by glymr, iesika



Series: Kings Among Runaways [3]
Category: DCU - Comicverse
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-10-29
Updated: 2009-10-29
Packaged: 2017-12-10 10:32:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/785046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glymr/pseuds/glymr, https://archiveofourown.org/users/iesika/pseuds/iesika
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim min/maxes Halloween for fun and profit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kings in Disguise

"Why are we doing this again?" asks Jason as Tim colors in the 'patch' around his eye with a tiny eyeliner pencil.

Tim frowns. "Doing what?"

"Going to this much trouble?"

Tim looks at him blankly. "People are giving away candy for *free* tonight, Jason. If we do this right, we'll end up with enough to supplement our regular meals for quite awhile."

Jason shrugs. "It's junk."

"It's calories," says Tim. "The next time we're down to one can of soup, you'll be glad of a mini-candybar on the side," he adds stiffly.

Shoving a hand through his hair, Jason shrugs again. "Yeah, I know. It's just...I'm kind of old for this, you know? I mean, I took Tulio last year, 'cause Rosa was sick and Manny was in lock-up, but--"

"Look," says Tim. "Just remember, I'm your little brother, and you're only out there to look out for me. You're sheepish and a little embarrassed, but if they offer you candy, you're not going to turn it down." His mouth quirks a little. "Trust me, Jason. I've been on both sides of the door enough times to know what works."

"Right...so why do we have to go to the suburbs again?"

Tim sighs. "I told you; that's where we'll get the best ratio of quality candy to density of houses. We should be able to hit at least 150 houses between the hours of six and nine o'clock--"

"Jeez, Tim." The eyebrow pencil stills. "You've really...thought this through, huh?"

The eyebrow pencil resumes its movements. When Tim finishes, he turns away. "I just...thought it was time I started pulling my weight," he says softly as he caps the pencil.

Jason doesn't really have anything to say to that, so he changes the subject. "Where'd you get that, anyway?" he asks, gesturing to the pencil.

Tim's mouth quirks again. "The mall. They give out free samples for all kinds of things there, and I thought it might come in handy." He looks up at Jason. "I thought you would prefer to have the use of both eyes rather than wearing an actual patch," he says. "We'll probably want to shower at the Y tomorrow, anyway."

"All right, that makes sense." _You're tremendously anal, but it makes sense._

Tim pulls out another rag and ties it around Jason's head, then eyes his work critically. Jason grins and strikes a rakish pose. "Perfect," says Tim. "You make a very convincing pirate, Jason."

"Arr," replies Jason with a smirk.

"Knock knock," says Manny, sticking his head in past the curtain that serves as their 'door'.

"Come in," says Tim.

Manny steps inside, Tulio behind him, and does a double-take when he sees Jason. "Cool costume, man," he says. Jason smirks.

"Did you get it?" Tim asks Tulio. Tulio grins and pulls a roll of gauze from his pocket. Tim fixes him with a _look._ "Did you *ask*?"

Tulio sticks his tongue out at Tim. "Yeah man, I asked. Like I'm gonna steal from Doctor Leslie!"

"Good." Tim takes the roll and tosses it to Manny. "I think that'll be enough."

"Enough for what?" asks Jason.

"That's for Manny's costume."

"What's he gonna be? An accident victim?"

Manny rolls his eyes. "No, man, a mummy!"

"Oh."

"OooooooOOOooooh! I've come back to haunt yooooOOOoouuu!"

"Jeez Tulio, that's our *blanket*!" says Jason, making a grab for him. The kid's peeking out through the holes, waving his arms around like some awful Godzilla late-late show monster.

He dodges Jason and wails, "I'm not TulioooooOOOOooo, I'm a ghoooOOOoooost!"

"All right, he is NOT dragging _our blanket_ around just so he can go Trick-or-Treating!"

"Of course he's not," says Tim calmly. "He's going to be a cowboy."

The ghost slumps. "I *told* you, man, I can't be a cowboy. I don't have a hat."

Tim doesn't reply, but his expression changes, like maybe he really wants to smile. He goes to the corner and starts digging through the refuse there, eventually pulling out a smudged and battered brown cowboy hat.

Tulio whoops and starts jumping up and down. "Where'd you get it?" he asks.

Tim just smiles. "I have my ways," he says, and produces a 'vest' cut from a brown paper shopping bag, complete with fringe at the bottom, and a silver star made out of a scrap of aluminum foil.

"Sweet!" Tulio grabs them and starts putting them on.

Manny eyes the star. "You're gonna be a cop?" he asks.

Tulio hesitates. "I'm--"

"He's a *cowboy* cop," says Tim, frowning at Manny. "A sheriff."

"Still a cop," Manny sneers.

"I don't wanna be a cop!" says Tulio, pulling off the silver star.

Tim sighs and digs out a rag. "All right, fine," he says, and ties the rag around Tulio's face, covering his nose and mouth. "Now you're a bad guy. Happy?"

"Smells funny," complains Tulio of the rag, and Jason ruffles his hair.

"It's clean," says Tim at the same time that Jason says, "It's either that or the star, kid."

Tulio scrunches up his face, then pretends to pull a gun and yells, "BANG, you're dead!"

Jason clutches his chest and stumbles backwards, deliberately almost knocking Tim over. "They got me...pardner..." he whispers. "Don't let them get away...with it..."

Tim snorts and gives Jason a shove. "Manny, you'd better start putting on that gauze. It doesn't need to be perfect, mainly just wind it around your head and neck, but make sure you can see and breathe and talk, of course."

Manny rolls his eyes. "I'm not *stupid*," he says.

"I know, I. Sorry," says Tim. He starts digging through the pile again, coming up with the army coat that they sometimes uses as an extra blanket. It's way too big for him, hanging on his thin frame ridiculously. Jason frowns, studying him. The kid doesn't get enough to eat. If things don't get better soon, Jason's going to have to take drastic measures...

He gives himself a little shake. Now's not the time to think about that.

Tim's tying some more bright scraps onto his costume - where'd he get all these rags from, anyway? - and then picking up the shard of mirror they found in some alley and uncapping the eyeliner pencil. He uses it to give himself some clearly fake 'stubble' and does something to his eyes that makes him look...younger, somehow.

"What are you supposed to be?" asks Jason.

Tim looks at him in surprise. "I'm a hobo, of course." Jason's startled into a laugh, and Tim's lips twitch in response. "Come on," he says. "We need to start now if we're going to get there by six."

* * *

It's a long, cold walk to the suburbs, and Jason can't help but wonder if the wear and tear on their shoes will be worth the extra candy they get...but he doesn't say anything. And once they get there, he has to admit, it *is* kind of fun. At each house they call "Trick-or-Treat!" Manny and Jason hang back, looking sheepish, while Tulio and Tim go to the front. The parents *always* offer Manny and Jason some candy, too. Whenever they can, they join other groups with younger kids for awhile, but they're moving quickly enough that they end up leaving the others behind every time. They also end up stuffing some of their candy into Tim's voluminous pockets so it's not too obvious how much they've already gotten.

Their biggest score comes at the house giving away apples. Tim smiles and asks sweetly, "May I have two, please?"

The woman at the door stares at him. "Honey, you can have as many as you want. I've got a tree out back that Johnny Appleseed himself coulda planted. I thought I'd get rid of summa the extras by giving them away, but-" she snorts "-half the parents won't even let the kids take 'em, and when they do, the kids just toss 'em out anyway." She gestures to the walkway, where the remains of several apples are splattered.

"We like apples," says Tim. "We...I...if we came back when we're done, we could take some with us. Take the extras off your. Hands."

"Sure, kid. When'll you be done?"

"Not long," says Tim, glancing at a clock over her shoulder. "Half an hour."

"Okay. I'll have some ready for you when you get back."

Tim smiles brightly. "Thank you, ma'am," he says.

Sure enough, when they return, the lady's got two burlap sacks full of apples for them. "Here you go, kids. Hope your mom makes good pies," she says.

Tim flashes her a small smile and gives a half-shrug. "We just like apples," he says, and they go.

* * *

"It's gonna suck lugging these back with us," grumbles Manny.

Jason's about to snap something in return - it *is* going to suck, but it also means that they'll have fresh fruit for awhile, and dried fruit if Manny's mom is feeling well enough to make it - when Tim gets that look again, like he wants to smile. "What have you got up your sleeve *now*?" asks Jason.

Tim's lips twitch. "They give free bus rides to kids on Halloween night after eight o'clock," he says smugly.

Jason starts to chuckle, and before long they're at the bus stop, huddling together in the enclosure as they wait for the bus to arrive. Finally it pulls up, and they jump up and start to get on - only to be stopped by the driver.

"You need to pay, kid," he says.

"You...but you give free rides to kids on holidays after eight o'clock at night," says Tim.

"What? Where'd you hear *that*?" The bus driver looks at him like he's gone crazy, and Tim frowns.

"The...the driver on the 302 line...Eric? He was quite clear that--"

"Well he's wrong," says the driver flatly, and Jason's hands curl into fists at the guy's tone. "Pay up or get out."

"We don't have any money," says Tim quietly, suddenly looking worried, "We just need to--"

The driver scowls at them. "What're you kids doing outside your own neighborhood on Halloween, anyway?" He eyes their sacks of apples suspiciously.

"We were visiting a friend," Tim starts, but it's clear the driver isn't interested.

"I gotta schedule to keep," he growls. "Pay up or get off."

They stand still for a moment, stunned, then turn to get off. Tim is pale and Jason can feel himself shaking with anger. He really, *really* wishes he could take a swing at the guy, but that kind of thing would wind him up in juvie for sure, and he's gotta be careful these days. He puts a hand on Tim's shoulder. "C'mon," he says. "This asshole isn't worth our time."

The driver unleashes a string of profanity at them, telling them to stay out of 'decent' neighborhoods from now on as the door slides shut and the bus takes off. They all stare after it, then start trudging towards their own neighborhood.

"I'm sorry," says Tim after a few minutes. "I should have double-checked. I."

Jason gives him a little punch on the shoulder. "Hey, not your fault they lied to you."

"Man, what was *wrong* with that cabron?" says Manny with an angry little laugh.

"Maybe he has a reason for the way he acts," says Tim softly. "Maybe his house was broken into or. Or his kid's a druggie or something."

Jason snorts. "More likely he came home to find his wife givin' it out to someone with a bigger dick," he says. Tulio finds this hysterical, Manny grins, and even Tim cracks a small smile. "Or maybe aliens came and took him, and shoved sharp things up his ass," adds Jason. The others laugh, and the rest of the long, cold walk is spent pleasantly enough, discussing increasingly implausible things that could have happened to make the asshole act like an asshole. Every so often they nibble on a piece of candy or eat an apple 'to keep their strength up'.

It's not so bad.

* * *

By the time they get back, Manny is practically carrying Tulio - it's a good thing Manny is a strong kid - Jason's got both bags of apples and Tim is nearly dead on his feet. They agree to divide up the candy tomorrow and stumble into their squat while Manny and Tulio head over to their mom's place.

They dump the candy and the apples on the table. "That was a pretty awesome plan," says Jason as Tim scrubs ineffectually at the eyeliner on his chin with one of the rags.

Tim stills and blinks at him. "But...it went wrong. The bus--"

Jason shrugs. "One part went a little wrong, but it could have been worse. And we got a _lot_ of candy, and all those apples."

"And toothbrushes," adds Tim, looking pleased.

"What?"

"Toothbrushes," says Tim. "At that one house? The dentist's wife that was giving them out."

"I remember. It's just, you're happy we got _toothbrushes_?"

"You _wanted_ to get cavities?"

"But we don't have any toothpaste."

"I read somewhere that you don't really need it. Studies have shown that, as long as you do a thorough job brushing, it actually doesn't make much difference whether you use toothpaste or not."

"Oh," says Jason. He smiles and shakes his head. "You're so weird," he says, grabbing Tim and hugging him. The kid stiffens and pulls away, and Jason quickly lets him go. "Anyway," says Jason, "It was a good plan. We got _tons_ of candy, and apples, and fucking toothbrushes," he grins, "so, good job."

The kid flushes and looks pleased. "Thanks," he says in a small voice. He picks up the blanket from where Tulio dropped it and starts spreading it out on the mattress. "...Hey, Jason?"

"Yeah?"

"Before. You said. You said, 'our' blanket."

Jason blinks. They've been sharing it for almost three weeks and the kid's getting freaked out on him *now*? "It is," he says.

"Yeah," says Tim, looking down at it, and smiles.

Jason just stares at him, then shakes his head and grins and tugs at Tim's arm, tumbling them both onto the mattress. "Go to sleep, kid," he says.

"All right," says Tim, relaxing as Jason curls an arm around him. "Happy Halloween, Jason."

"Happy Halloween, Tim."


End file.
